If you sent your DC to an after school language class, which would you prefer?

[blackandwhiteandredallover]

...would you rather

1. A school mum who speaks the language giving her own lessons using photocopied worksheets, resources downloaded from the internet etc, at £3-4 per class.

1. Same school mum using a nationally recognised franchise, so a bit more formal and structured with a glossy workbook, own CD etc at £4-5 per class.

I'm looking into setting up a French club at DD's school and can't decide how to go about it. There are pros and cons for each option in terms of suppport and resources vs set up costs and paying royalties. Just wondered whether in general people would be willing to pay more for something that they perceive as more structured/formal from a national chain.

I've got both options IRL and have chosen 2, with La Jolie Ronde. But it's more like £10 a lesson?

But then I'm a French speaker myself and could do 1) with the DCs myself, am looking for something more.

Haha, it's actually La Jolie Ronde I'm considering! The big pro is the training, and they provide all the course materials. I also get the impression there is a good support network. The downside is paying approx £600 upfront for the franchise and also a percentage of royalties. It's up to the licensee to set their own prices, round here after school clubs seem to be between £3-£5 depending what they are, so I couldn't charge more than £5 realistically.

I used to be a TA before DC2 was born and ran my own French club at the school (I have a French degree) so I know I could just do it myself. But it would be time consuming getting all the resources together, and also I don't know if I would be taken as seriously?

Do they already have French lessons at school? They do at ours from Reception upwards but not sure how common that is at a state primary. I probably wouldn't pay for extra lessons if they were provided at school anyway, but if not then 1.

One of our mums also teaches Spanish for free as she is a native speaker.

The only French they do at the moment is one term in Y6 I believe. And there are no other language clubs.

Why don't you start with lessons you devise yourself, to work out the demand, then go for La Jolie Ronde if that seems to work?

Around here La Jolie Ronde also teach in pre-schools and nurseries as an optional extra, might be worth investigating.

Hmm, I did have the same thought... I guess I need to decide if I want to just do DD's school or properly start my own business and start targeting other schools, nurseries etc. If it's the latter then Jolie Ronde is maybe the way to go as they can help with marketing etc.

I am a La Jolie Ronde tutor ( not franchisee) if you have any questions.
I find the structure and backup really good because I just want to deliver the lessons and not have to deal with parents etc.

Must you have worksheets? Can be very dull.
Couldn't you do songs, rhymes, games, stories etc instead, with just a few printed words to take home and practice?
(I am a trained teacher trainer for mfl, so have tried lots of things,)

The LJR books are really good and the kids love them ( I always get asked " Madame Hopping, can we do book work now?" But there are lots of songs and rhymes as well, especially for the younger ones.

Hopping that's great to hear, do you enjoy the lessons? And do you have to strictly follow the plans? My worry is that I have games and activities that worked brilliantly in my old group and I'd like the freedom to use my own ideas too sometimes. I also would prefer to do classes for 1hr rather than 30 mins, as all the other after school classes are an hour, and I don't know if I'd get as many takers for a 30 min class.

Do the parents have to pay for the workbook or is that included?

LaBelle I do all sorts of games and songs as well as the occasional worksheet! In fact I used to use a 'singing spanish' CD that had words which could be photocopied for the kids to sing along, they loved it! I was just trying to emphasise that my own classes wouldn't have all the glossy resources that LJR might offer. Though I did do an awful lot of printing and lamimating from Twinkl etc for things like number cards and flashcards etc.

Franchise.

'A school mum' implies no particular training in teaching etc etc.
(Though in your later posts you go on to say a TA, done this before etc, so maybe that would be OK if the publicity makes it clear.)

Whereas a franchise implies proven approach, training, appropriate materials, backup etc.

I would love for my 9 yr old to do an after school language club, there aren't any in our town. I would expect it to include games, singing etc, and only rarely worksheets. I would want it to help her pick up some basic vocabulary, but more importantly to get the accent, and to not be embarrassed to speak the langauge infront of others.

I don't think I would really care which one of those it was and would be prepared to pay either price. What I would care about is a) do my children enjoy it and b) are they obviously making progress.

I think getting a great local reputation for the above will be key.

DD does this at school. The school French teacher does it - half an hour a week, for £4.

DD (4) loves it, they mainly do songs, basic vocab and have fun from the sound of it.

I wouldn't be interested in paying someone more just because they had a franchise. As long as they are competent to teach and my DD gets something out of it I'm happy.

Anne if you don't mind me asking, is your DD doing La Jolie Ronde? When you say the school French teacher, do you mean she also teaches within the school (ie not extracurricular) as well?

No, not La Jolie Ronde. The school French teacher does extra classes after school. DD is only 4, so nothing too taxing at the moment, but I've been impressed at how much she has taken in so far.

I have lesson plans but don't always follow them exactly, if there's anything I think the kids will like ( eg heads shoulders knees and toes in French) then we do that instead. Sometimes we go totally off plan.
I really think that 30 minutes are enough - I do 4 classes, reception, yr 1&2, year3 and year 4,5,6 combined. We seem to cover a lot in that time.
Feel free to ask anything else - as a tutor I don't make a lot of money doing it, I could if I took on more classes but I have my own (more lucrative) business doing something else, I do it to keep using my French and as a contrast to dealing with my usual client base.

Also, workbook and CD are included for £5 per lesson ( paid termly in advance) but if they lose them they have to pay for a replacement.
The nurseries are. Bit more lucrative ( I do one but don't enjoy it as much) and if you speak Spanish too that is popular due to Dora and Diego.
My franchisee employs around 8 tutors I think and teaches herself too.
The biggest pain apparently is chasing payments!!

If your 'invitations' letter makes it clear you are an experienced TA, and that you have a French degree, then that sounds like the 2 best qualifications for me - I wouldn't want to pay extra for you to buy into a franchise (and I agree with other poster who said Jolie Ronde classes are quite a bit more than that around here).

I suppose as a TA it can safely be assumed you can teach but not everyone who can speak another language is able to teach it.
My French is a good conversational level but not fluent but I got the tutor job partly based on the fact that I also train adults.
I know plenty of people who are fluent in a language or are a native speaker but couldn't teach it - I pulled my DD out of Spanish classes and taught her myself because the lady taking the class ( who was Spanish) couldn't teach at all.
As a parent I would rather pay an extra £1 for a proper nationally recognised course than just a parent setting up lessons.
No disrespect here OP I know you are a TA so it's slightly different but I would prefer a proper course with CD and workbook for my children.

Hi BlackandWhite:

We've had both scenarios. A University student teaching chinese and a language club through a national organisation teaching French.

To be honest both are great.

As a parent what matters is that your kids are enjoying it, you can see the benefits and you're getting some information home (filled in worksheets, information about what to do on-line/ language games, etc...).

So to be honest I think you'll get work anyway - so the decision should be whether it is better to go freelance or through a club.

Just be sure you have a CRB check - that tends to reassure school/ parents.

HTH

If you're a TA with a French degree I'd be more than happy to send my child to your lessons and would not want to pay extra for you to be part of a franchise :)

Lots of food for thought, thanks! I've just received the Jolie Ronde sample materials in the post, along with a CD and the material seems great, especially the CD, my DDs loved it! But then I have also been researching other materials online that I could use.

Hopping I totally get what you are saying, that just because you can speak the language doesn't mean you can teach it. As a tutor, what sort of training did you have? Is it mostly online and through observing other classes?

I need to have another chat with the head about it and might ask what they would prefer- he kind of agreed to the French club in principle, but we haven't talked about the details yet.

Thanks for all the feedback, I've got another call with LJR next week so hopefully they will be able to answer some of my questions thrown up by this thread!

As I said I train adults so that helped my application, I also had to have a conversation in French ( totally unexpected as I just phoned up to enquire)
I met the franchisee after a phone interview with head office and then did online training and assessments. I also observed a few classes.
Ny bit is easy - it's all the admin that is a pain but I suppose you would get that either way.
My franchisee speaks very highly of the support she gets from head office.
I suppose it depends if you just want to do once school or run it as a business and do more schools and possibly even employ tutors?
Is there a franchisee anywhere near you ?

If a native speaker, then I think she will probably do a better job with (1) than (2).

What about something like www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/Primary/MFL/AllMFLresources/PrimaryFrenchisFun/Primary_French_is_Fun.aspx which would give you books for the children (but not books for them to keep), photocopiable resources you don't need to search for, interactive games, etc, but you aren't tied into a franchise...